We Can't Be Friends
by theevilmuffin
Summary: It's Sakura's birthday. Naruto is having trouble finding a present, Sasuke makes an ill-advised bet, and Sakura fears for her sanity. Team 7 at its finest. SasuSaku Two-Shot.
1. Part One: Maybe It's Just Me But

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademarks.

Warnings: Team 7 silliness with a large helping of SasuSaku on top, takes place after Sasuke's eventual return/rehab/redemption (why do all these words begin with R?)

We Can't Be Friends  
>Part One: Maybe It's Just Me, But...<br>by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

Naruto was so screwed. It was Sakura's birthday today and he still didn't have a gift for her. He scowled and scuffed his feet as he walked down the street, absently looking at the different shops and trying to find something that Sakura would like.

But what did Sakura like?

The only answer that really seemed to come to mind was Sasuke, but somehow Naruto didn't think Sakura would appreciate a gift-wrapped Uchiha as her birthday present. Not to mention, he didn't think that Sasuke would really appreciate it either.

Speaking of Sasuke, Naruto spotted his teammate in a bookshop, browsing through some rather thick texts and scowling at the prices on the back. After further observation, Naruto noticed he seemed to be rotating between three different books, as if he couldn't make up his mind.

Grinning, Naruto popped into the store and stealthily moved behind Sasuke, who seemed none-the-wiser.

"What do you want, loser?" Sasuke asked without preamble – as usual.

Naruto jumped, startled. "How the hell do you do that, anyway? There's no way you could've heard me."

"Exactly," Sasuke murmured. "You're too predictable."

"WHAT'S THAT-" Naruto quieted when the bookstore owner gave him a nasty glare. "What's that supposed to mean?" he hissed.

Sasuke grunted in response. Naruto threw his arms up in the air and gave up. "Fine, whatever; what are you doing, then?"

Sasuke turned slowly and stared at his so-called best friend with a quirked brow. "I'm getting something for Sakura's birthday, or did you forget about that along with all of your so-called ninja skills."

Naruto scowled. "I forgot nothing. I was just about to get a present for her, too."

"Yeah, right," Sasuke chuckled.

"So, what's with the books, then? I mean, they seem kind of boring."

"They're texts on advanced jutsu theory."

"Ugh, that's so lame – why get her a present that seems like academy homework? Why not get her some pretty earrings or something."

"These are practical," Sasuke retorted.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "And that's why she won't go out with you."

"Excuse me?" Sasuke turned sharply to glare at Naruto.

"Dude, you're standing in here, browsing through books that I'm sure you don't even understand half of, to get Sakura-chan a birthday present when you could've just gone and gotten something girly and not really cared what she thought. The Sasuke I know doesn't put effort into things for nothing – it's so obvious you like her."

Sasuke sighed, and mumbled something that sounded like "maybe to you."

Naruto sighed – it was quite sad, really. Sakura still loved Sasuke, but wouldn't say anything to Sasuke, thinking she had already said enough. On the other hand, Sasuke was obviously head over heels for Sakura, but, being the stubborn, emotionless prick he was, would never own up to it on his own.

Naruto officially believed his teammates were the biggest idiots in the village.

Then, an idea began to bloom in his head. A plan that would kill two birds before they hatched.

…or, however that saying went.

Naruto frowned and mumbled, "He who slings mud cast the first stone?"

Sasuke gave him a weird look. "What are you mumbling about?" he asked. He seemed to have settled on a thick text about genjutsu.

Naruto looked up at him and grinned. "Hey Sasuke, make a bet with me."

"Why?"

"Because if I lose, I'll let you take any of my missions you want for the next sixth months, and I'll take the ones you don't want."

Sasuke mulled this over. "What happens if you win?"

Naruto grinned, "You get to help me with my birthday present for Sakura."

Sasuke quirked a brow at this, but figured that it was just Naruto making a stupid bet. "All right, deal." Sasuke shook him on it and Naruto's grin only grew bigger.

x-x-x-x

Sasuke scowled all the way to Sakura's office. He opened the door without knocking, startling Sakura who had been dozing over some important paperwork. "Yes, Sasuke?"

"Naruto wanted me to pick you up for lunch."

"Oh!" Sakura looked at the clock. "I didn't realize it was already lunch time."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, of course she didn't notice – she had been sleeping.

She sorted her papers into neat piles on her desk and scribbled down a quick note that mentioned she would be out for lunch with her team.

"Alright, I'm ready," she said.

Sasuke rolled his neck and then stalked out of the hospital, Sakura following closely behind him. She was moderately surprised, and confused, when Sasuke did not follow the usual route to Ichiraku's. Instead he seemed to be leading her to the shopping district.

"Sasuke?" she questioned.

He grunted in response, "Just keep following."

They stopped at a quaint but lovely little restaurant and sat at a small table outside. Sakura took her seat awkwardly when she noted that the table was only set for two. "Isn't Naruto coming?"

"I never said anything about Naruto coming," Sasuke muttered.

"But you said that Naruto told you to – oh… oh," Sakura managed not to gape as she clued into the situation at hand. The waitress appeared to take their order before the air between them could get too tense or awkward.

Once their orders were through and waitress left. Sakura, a little harried by the suddenness of everything, tried to re-compose herself. Having privacy once more, she couldn't help but speak up. "You know, you don't have to be here just because Naruto asked."

"Do you honestly think I would do anything Naruto asked?" Sasuke replied.

He meant to imply that he did do some of the stuff Naruto asked him to, provided that it went along with his own interests. But Sakura didn't seem to take it that way.

"So, what – you lost a bet?"

Sasuke scowled and Sakura knew she'd hit home.

"Look, this is stupid. You really don't have to follow through with whatever it is Naruto wanted you to do."

"He wanted me to take you out to lunch – said it was your birthday present from him," Sasuke grumbled.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I should've expected this from Naruto. Look, I don't want to be here if you don't want to be here – especially because of some stupid bet with Naruto."

"I don't care," Sasuke bit out. And he didn't care, about the bet that is.

Sakura however, did not hear it that way.

"If you want to leave, just say so. I won't care. I'd rather you just leave if you don't want to be here than staying and making it uncomfortable," Sakura murmured.

"Shut up," Sasuke scowled. "Stop being annoying." He crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back in his chair, and turned his head to glare at the wall. He sighed, "We've already ordered anyway. It would be a waste to leave anyway. So just enjoy the meal I'm buying you."

"Sasuke, you don't have to-"

The look he gave her shut her up.

There was an awkward silence as they waited for the meal to come. Sakura felt frustrated, which was, sadly, not an abnormal feeling to be having around Sasuke. Even now, her heart fluttered just that extra little bit around him – enough to make his only casual comments ache. Enough to create that millisecond of doubt in every word he spoke. Enough to be pissed off for her (or was it him?) never being enough.

Sasuke sighed. "I used to come here with Itachi when I was a kid," he said.

Sakura's attention snapped to his face, unable to believe he'd said something so… direct about his older brother – about his past.

Sasuke, however, continued to stare at the wall and look uncomfortable. He didn't mean for things to always come out like this in front of her, but there was something about the quiet strength of her shoulders and jaw, and the subtle vulnerability in her gaze that made him spit these things out without thought.

Sakura, sensing he'd clammed up for good this time, smiled softly and clasped her one hand over her other hand, silently imagining the hand she was holding wasn't her own, but Sasuke's.

The rest of their lunch was passed in silence – though it was not all uncomfortable. When the waitress reappeared to take their plates and asked if they wanted any dessert, Sakura started to protest.

"Oh, no, the –"

But Sasuke cut her off. "She'll have the Chocolate Explosion – nothing for me."

The waitress nodded and left and Sakura glared at Sasuke. "I don't want dessert."

Sasuke just stared back at her impassively, as if saying: "You can't fool me."

Sakura sighed, frustrated at the mixed signals, or perhaps her own inability to read the signals correctly, and decided it was time to leave.

"I have to go back to work. Thanks for lunch, Sasuke-kun. Goodbye."

Embarrassed that the affectionate suffix had slipped out when she was trying to be angry with him, Sakura made her exit quicker than she thought possible.

Sasuke had meant to protest but the return of the suffix to his name had startled him long enough for her to make her exit before he could stop her. He grumbled and closed his eyes in frustration – stuffed his hands in the pockets so he wouldn't break anything.

It didn't help when the waitress came back with the dessert and _two_ spoons.

x-x-x-x

Sakura shouldn't have been surprised when Naruto barged into her office at 3 in the afternoon, but really, he just barged in and she was still frustrated from her lunch (she refused to call it a date, since it had been orchestrated by Naruto, apparently) with Sasuke – so frustrated, in fact, that she had ripped at least three forms with her pen while signing them. She was considering snapping the pen in her hand while she imagined that it was Sasuke's spine when Naruto suddenly thundered in, knocking her framed certificate off the wall and causing it knock an extremely large stack of loose paper off the small file cabinet that was underneath it.

Sakura pressed her face into her hand and groaned.

"Happy birthday, Sakura-chan!" he almost yelled and she just wanted to punch that face-splitting grin off of him, or at least knock out a couple teeth.

"What?" she snapped.

"What?" he repeated. "Can't a guy wish his best friend a happy birthday?"

She did smile at this (damn it) and looked up at Naruto sheepishly. "Sorry, been a weird day."

"I can imagine. So I heard you had lunch with the bastard today?" Naruto said as he spun the chair on the opposite side of Sakura's desk so he could straddle it.

Sakura had to make an effort to not groan in exasperation again and instead managed to scoff. "Yeah, thanks Naruto, what did you have to do to get him to take me to lunch – insult his validity as a man?"

Naruto cringed. "It's not like that, Sakura-chan. I thought that maybe… I mean, I know that you two don't…" He pursed his lips, unsure of what words to use in order to get his point across. "Well, I know you guys like different things than me, and I thought that maybe Sasuke would appreciate hanging out with you without me, but you know how he is, so I just… tried to give him a little nudge."

Sakura stared at Naruto and said flatly, "You expect me to believe that Sasuke wanted to hang out with me?"

Naruto nodded hesitantly.

Sakura rolled her eyes and fell back into her chair. "Why?" she groaned. "Why does this even happen to me?"

Naruto swallowed meekly. "So, you're still wanting that birthday dinner tonight, yeah?"

x-x-x-x  
>TO BE CONTINUED<p> 


	2. Part Two: You Seem Finally Happy

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its storyline, or any related trademarks.

Warnings: Team 7 awesomeness with a large helping of SasuSaku on top, takes place after Sasuke's eventual return/rehab/redemption (why do all these words begin with R?)

We Can't Be Friends  
>Part Two: ...You Seem Finally Happy<br>by: theevilmuffin

x-x-x-x

Naruto's idea of a birthday dinner turned out to be the same as every other meal Team 7 had at Ichiraku, only this time Naruto was treating the group. It surprised Sakura that Naruto even had enough money to feed more than himself (considering the amount of food he did eat). Naruto, however, was (even more surprisingly) actually quite frugal – people just tended to take advantage of his friendly nature and his money lending habits, which was how he often ended up broke.

Naruto regaled the rest of his team with the story of his most recent mission, grinning when Sakura huffed in amusement and Sasuke scoffed at his stupidity.

"Well, I think it's time to get to the main event," Kakashi interrupted. The small part of his face that was visible was slightly flush from drink. He pulled an intricately carved wooden box from his jounin vest and presented it to Sakura. "Happy Birthday, Sakura."

Sakura flushed and accepted the gift with careful hands, anxious to see what could be housed by such a beautiful container. When she opened it, she stared in wonder. Inside was a three-pronged kunai with an intricate seal engraved into the handle. She looked up to Kakashi in question.

"It was a gift that my jounin instructor gave to me. It doesn't work the way it used to so I modified it with a seal of my own; if you're ever in trouble, just use that and I'll be able to find you no matter where you are."

Sakura flushed, overwhelmed by the gift and the underlying implication that Kakashi would always be there for her. "Thank you, Kakashi, it's…" she flushed even more when she couldn't seem to find the words. "Thank you!"

Kakashi chuckled and slung an arm around her, squeezing her shoulder affectionately. "You're very welcome, Sakura." As an afterthought, he added. "You always were my favourite student."

Sasuke and Naruto glared at him.

Sakura blushed and closed the intricate case, laying it down on the bar with great anxiety. She didn't want to put the beautiful gift out of her reach lest something happened to it, but she was also curious about what Sasuke and Naruto had gotten her (and what she would do to Naruto if he thought that paying for her ramen and forcing Sasuke to take her to lunch was an actual birthday present). There was an awkward pause where the two boys seemed to silently fight over who would give their gift first, both wanting their gift to be last – the statement 'save the best for last' running through their minds.

Their staring contest ended when Sasuke looked away.

Sasuke grumbled and tried to shake off the strange sense of excitement he was feeling. He was being silly. It didn't really matter who gave their gift first, Sakura would obviously like anything he had gotten her more than whatever Naruto had gotten her… if the idiot had even gotten her anything. Still, there was this unusual kernel of doubt within him that kept mocking him with the fact that Sakura might see his gift the same way Naruto had – _as_ _homework_.

Sasuke collected himself and casually handed the book over. Sakura accepted it with steady hands and a warm smile despite the fact that it wasn't even wrapped. She gave it the same amount of attention as Kakashi's gift and, when she began to skim through the book, another wide smile slowly spread across her face.

"Thank you, Sasuke," she said, turning to face her smile towards him.

"Hn." Sasuke had his elbows on the table and his fingers folded together in front of his face – a pose reminiscent of his youth. The tips of his ears were red.

"Okay, now it's my turn!" Naruto said. He pulled the bag he had brought with him onto his lap and dug through it, before handing Sakura an oddly shaped object sloppily wrapped in the paper labels off of various cup ramen. Upon seeing the look of sheer terror and anger on Sakura's face, Naruto laughed and said, "Just kidding!"

He put the fake gift down and pulled out the real gift – a box shaped item that was neatly wrapped with a lovely silk bow tied around it. "Hinata-chan helped me wrap it," he added bashfully.

Sakura chuckled and took the gift, which she unwrapped with great care. She opened the box to find a carefully packed tea set with Kabuki inspired paintings on each piece.

"I remembered you were talking about getting your own place a few weeks ago, but you seemed sad that you didn't have your own tea set, so…" Naruto was rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, a sheepish grin on his face, but there was a strange light in his eyes that told Sakura that he had probably had help from more than just his memory.

Still, Sakura appreciated it all the same. She closed the box gently and set it down with great care before she wrapped Naruto up in a hug. Naruto hugged her back and settled his chin on her shoulder, grinning triumphantly at Sasuke.

Sasuke scowled at him.

Naruto chuckled and Sakura pulled away.

Kakashi rapped his knuckles on Sasuke's head, trying to curb the teen's scowling. "Alright," Kakashi drawled, "I think it's about time we started pouring drinks, yes?"

x-x-x-x

Naruto had taken it upon himself to "walk his Sasu-chan home" (Sakura had laughed at that), however, the amount of alcohol in Naruto meant that the reality of the situation was the opposite: Sasuke was the one walking Naruto home. Naruto was half passed out on Sasuke's shoulder and Sasuke was very tempted just to push his best friend off and leave him to sleep on the road for the night, but Naruto had an arm thrown around Sasuke's other shoulder and the arm just wouldn't come off no matter how Sasuke pulled and pried at it.

"Go away," Sasuke grumbled, despite the fact that his feet kept taking them towards Naruto's apartment complex.

"Mnotgoinanywere…mmm," Naruto mumbled into Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke sighed. He really didn't want to encourage Naruto's drunken rambles, but he had one burning question still on his mind. He voiced it before his better judgment could stop him. "Where'd you get the tea set? Last time I checked, you had no idea what to get Sakura for her birthday."

"Idnmahwer," Naruto slurred.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He should've known it was pointless to ask. "Never mind," he said.

"Mleensfena," Naruto said loudly into Sasuke's shirt.

Unfortunately, the volume wasn't enough to make it understandable.

"I said forget it," Sasuke hissed.

"LEE!" Naruto shouted so loudly that Sasuke winced, jumped, and proceeded to look around for the green-clad ninja.

When he realized that no one else was in the vicinity, he sighed and brushed it off as Naruto's drunkenness. "He isn't here, dumbass."

Naruto pushed himself off of Sasuke and wobbled dangerously while trying to stand up on his own. "No!" he shouted. "The conversation… about Sakura and the tea set. Lee was talking 'bout it." Naruto hiccoughed and grinned.

_Figures,_ Sasuke thought. _With Lee's amount of admiration and Naruto's dumb luck, it's almost impossible that they wouldn't cross paths on Sakura's birthday. Naruto probably got in a discussion about not finding a gift and Lee had made some grandeur statement that Naruto had loved – hell, Naruto might've even been able to persuade Lee to pay for it, too._ Sasuke shook his head at the ridiculousness of it.

"But yeah I totally didn't need yer help atall," Naruto said, pointing at Sasuke accusingly. "You suck."

"Stop talking about yourself," Sasuke mocked.

"I'm talking about _you_, shithead," Naruto grumbled and stumbled after Sasuke who had started walking ahead.

"Too bad Sai was on a mission, I wanted to see what he got Sakura," Naruto continued. "Also, I didn't see you get a hug, Mr. I-Give-People-Textbooks-As-Presents."

"It was probably convenient for her to hug you since she was sitting right next to you. If you forgot, Kakashi was on her other side, not me."

"That's 'cause you fail miserably at life."

Sasuke scowled but continued to drag the blond towards his apartment complex.

"She looked happy, you know?"

Sasuke paused to look at Naruto. Naruto suddenly looked old and weary – very un-Naruto-like. Sasuke didn't like it one bit.

"Yeah," Sasuke whispered despite the tightness in his throat. "I know."

"She never looked like that for me," Naruto continued, quiet but with conviction. "You make her so happy, I just wish you'd let her know how happy she makes you."

Sasuke swallowed thickly and started to move again, hoping that continuing their walk would kill the conversation – Naruto didn't seem sober enough to talk and walk at the same time.

It seemed to work, as Naruto lulled against Sasuke's shoulder once more and seemed to almost doze despite the fact that he was still shoddily putting one foot in front of the other.

Once Naruto was safely in his apartment (Sasuke wasn't stepping one foot in that filthy place, no matter how many times Naruto tried to get him to "tuck him in") Sasuke started the long journey back to his place. It was really inconvenient, how far apart he lived from the rest of Team 7. Then again, Naruto had once had the option of living near Sasuke, but had chosen another apartment simply because it was only 4 blocks from Ichiraku.

_Naruto wouldn't let his wrist go. "Let go, loser, I already told you, you can find your own way to your bed."_

"_You'll tell her, right?" Naruto said, his blue eyes burned with determination._

Sasuke sighed and shook his head. He had the most annoying friends.

x-x-x-x

Sakura walked home quite smoothly, despite how unbalanced she felt from all the alcohol she had consumed that night. Naruto had lent her his bag so she could carry all her gifts home and she had double-checked to make sure it was secured on her back before leaving Ichiraku. She didn't want to damage any of the beautiful gifts that her teammates had gotten her.

It was amazing how well each of them knew her, and how their gifts seem to parallel their relationship to her. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but Sakura felt the gifts were also a personal interpretation of their giver, too.

Kakashi's kunai had been practical, but also sentimental. He had admitted before to feeling ashamed that he didn't get to teach her more as a genin, and while Sakura had tried to rid the thought from him, she knew that Kakashi would never really let go of his regret. Sharing this with her, something he had never shared with either Sasuke or Naruto, was his way of trying to make it up to her, to tell her that she was just as worth saving as they were.

It put a warm feeling in her heart.

Naruto's tea set had been a surprise for sure (but when wasn't Naruto surprising her?). She had made the remark weeks ago that she had needed a tea set for when she moved (which was next week), but it had been an off-hand comment. It was beautiful, and, while not the design she would've picked, Sakura appreciated the Kabuki paintings much more, simply because Naruto had picked them. Not to mention, she could imagine assigning each team member their own cups based on the different characters painted on each one. Naruto, too, had probably thought of that when he had picked them – he was good like that.

The thought of having Team 7 over for tea made her giggle.

Then there was Sasuke's gift. She hadn't known what to expect from Sasuke – the text on genjutsu was unexpected, but very much a Sasuke gift, now that she thought it over. It had probably been a little pricy, considering the weight and the embroidered cover, but Sasuke would've guessed she'd use it more than enough for it to be worth the price he'd have to pay.

He'd be right, too. She'd probably be flipping through this text for the rest of her life. She understood almost all of the jutsu theory inside the book, but some of the genjutsu she'd seen just from flipping through the book at dinner were so complex that she bet it would take years before she was able to get them down pat. One genjutsu she'd seen used a jutsu formula she'd never thought of using outside of ninjutsu – it was intriguing.

_I'll definitely be spending a lot of nights in bed with this thing,_ she thought.

The thought itself quickly turned into something else entirely when her alcohol-addled brain began to think of other things (specifically one person) she could be spending a lot of nights in bed with instead.

Sakura, who had stopped walking and now stood, as if dazed, flushed heavily and tried to physically shake the thought out of her system.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke's voice cut through the crisp air.

Sakura jerked in surprise and looked up the road to see Sasuke standing there. Strange that she never thought to ask him what he was doing there when she knew his house was on the other side of town, but that information seemed to be unable to surface under the weight of all the alcohol in her skull.

Sasuke also seemed to be swaying, but Sakura wasn't sure if that was actually him or just her vision.

His cheeks, however, had a little more colour than usual – from the sake no doubt. _Or perhaps Naruto-kun had a little too much fun with "his Sasu-chan."_ her inner voice teased.

Sakura blushed furiously at the thought and noticed Sasuke staring at her with a strange expression on his face.

"Just… nothing," she said. She shook her head and continued her way home.

Sasuke fell into step beside her.

He said nothing, however, and Sakura became increasingly unnerved by his silence and extremely aware of the heat growing on the back of her neck and in her face from his proximity. Strangely, her limbs felt almost relaxed in comparison.

She turned her head to face him sharply, so she could ask him what his problem was, but apparently the complexity of moving in one direction and looking in another was too much for her drunken coordination, and she tripped over her own feet.

Sasuke caught her wrist but it didn't keep her from falling over. It only jerked her around to face him before her momentum carried her backside to the ground (AKA she fell on her ass).

Better than falling on her face, she supposed.

Sasuke stood next to her, but did not help her up from the ground. Still, she grabbed his arm and used it to hoist herself up and damned her lack of alcohol tolerance. Sasuke's face seemed impassive and Sakura cursed a little inside, she'd been hoping she'd irritated him a little to get him back for all the times he'd, probably unknowingly, irritated her.

"I won the bet," Sasuke murmured, still not breaking from his blank stare.

"What?" she mumbled, having not quite heard him.

"I won the bet," he repeated, this time much more adamant. He turned to face her this time, snapping from his reverie.

Sakura, on the other, was quite puzzled. When had she had made a bet with Sasuke? How did he win it? Sakura narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What?"

"I won the bet!" Sasuke repeated a third time, even more adamant than before. His whole face was red, from anger or what, Sakura didn't know.

"What bet?" Sakura asked, frustrated by the lack of understanding between them.

Sasuke seemed to deflate at this. He looked away from her and started walking towards her house once more. Sakura sped up (and almost fell over again) so she could walk by his side.

"The bet with Naruto," Sasuke said. "I didn't lose it."

"Oh," was all Sakura could say because it felt like her brain had just imploded.

Sasuke had to be lying, otherwise he would be admitting that he'd won the bet with Naruto and then had taken her out for lunch anyway, which meant that he'd taken her out not because he'd had to, but because he'd wanted to. It was all too confusing.

"But why…?" _Why would you want to have lunch with me?_ Sakura almost wanted to sit down again because of the velocity at which her brain now spun. She also wanted to sit down so she could throw a temper tantrum at Sasuke for not making any sense.

She settled for simply telling him that he didn't make any sense, since the thought of doing anymore than that made her feel like she would explode, or puke, or spontaneously combust into an explosion of alcohol and ramen.

"You don't make any sense," she murmured.

Sasuke smirked softly (or perhaps it was a smile?) and the sight of it, the sight of Sasuke so carefree and light-hearted, the sight of the Sasuke of her youth, drained away any irritation, any anxiety, and any frustration that Sakura had with him. Instead she half-swooned into his side. The two stumbled momentarily before regaining their balance. Sakura giggled and Sasuke scoffed, "Annoying," but his elbow brushed her side lightly, and Sakura took it as an invitation to loop her arm through his.

They walked in comfortable silence, warm from the alcohol they had consumed despite the chill of the late night air settling in. Sakura was also warm inside from Sasuke, and she briefly wondered if she made him warm inside, too. She found herself looking up at the stars, admiring the beautiful night and trusting Sasuke to lead her home. And if she fell again, well, this time she'd be taking him with her.

When they arrived at her door, it was like a wake-up call for Sakura. She snapped out of her hazy, dream-like state and retracted her arms from Sasuke's arm quickly, a blush heating her face. She couldn't believe she'd been acting so… affectionately towards him. She felt like she was 12 all over again, stumbling all over her love for him once more. She fumbled for her keys in the dark, suddenly aware of the cold air and that her hands were shaking from anxiety.

"Here," Sasuke murmured. He grabbed her keys and selected the right one for her before handing them back to her.

She looked up at him, unsure, weary, frail – hopeful. She looked like the Sakura he remembered from his youth. Sasuke couldn't break her gaze.

His free hand moved to cradle the back of her neck and he kissed her.

The moment was over as soon as it begun when their noses clunked together and caused Sasuke to pull back, a red blush painted across his cheeks.

"I don't…" he frowned. "I don't know how to do this."

Sakura almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, but beyond that, even more powerful than that, was the fact that Sasuke was showing her something that she had seen all along, something she had just never known how to interpret before.

After years of frustration, struggling with the torch she carried for him (one that often brought her to tears), she had finally found the fan that had kept the flame in her heart going all this time – him. He was stumbling over this just as much as she was. She dropped her gaze and grabbed his hand (which was still holding her keys) and brushed her fingertips over his knuckles. Her thumb traced the tendons in his wrist.

"I…" she paused, unsure of what to say. She looked up at him and saw his nervous frown; his dark but bashful gaze. She smiled softly.

"I don't know how to do this either," she whispered, and then she tip-toed up and pressed her lips to his.

x-x-x-x  
>END<p> 


End file.
